Vacation, Day 2, 10/22/2009, Part 2

We rode in Kay's truck from New Orleans to hers and Milton's home in South Mississippi. For you, random sights and sites seen as we moved along the streets and highways.

Seen before we got onto I-10.

Robert Dafford's mural, the 150-foot-tall clarinet painted on the side of a Holiday Inn hotel on Loyola Avenue, is trompe l'oeil . This mural was dedicated in May 1996. From Wikipedia: Trompe l'oeil (French for 'trick the eye') is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.

Seen on Poydras, as we neared I-10, the Louisiana Superdome.



Seen just off I-10, one of New Orleans' cemeteries, also known as cities of the dead.

Found on the Internet: Why aren’t the dead in New Orleans buried underground as they are in most of the rest of the country? Tour guides are fond of explaining (and sometimes embellishing) the practice to shocked tourists. The main issue, they explain, is that New Orleans is actually located slightly below sea level. Because of this, the water table is quite high. When early European settlers put coffins under six feet of earth, they found that the water level would often rise above them, especially during the city’s frequent floods. Since the coffins were filled with air, the water sometimes pushed them up through the earth, causing both a gruesome sight and a health hazard. To keep the coffins underground, holes were drilled in the lid to let air escape, and the coffins were weighted down with rocks and sand. But this was only partially successful, and in any case the saturated corpses did not decompose properly, leading to unsanitary conditions. The only solution was to bury the dead above ground.

Tour guides seldom mention that above-ground burial was a common practice in both France and Spain, where many of the early settlers were from. Even without the resurfacing coffins—which, by the way, were the exception rather than the rule—this practice may well have been adopted simply to keep with tradition. In any case, this method is still widely used today, even though the water table has dropped considerably over the past two centuries as nearby marshes and swamps were drained.

Seen on the way out of town, just to the side of I-10.

Found on their Web site: Faux Pas Prints is a cutting-edge screen printing, embroidery, and promotional item company. We specialize in the corporate casual clothing market with products such as printed t-shirts, embroidered golf shirts, hats, jackets, and much more!

Faux Pas Prints is growing daily through a large number of satisfied customers coupled with competitive pricing! Your complete satisfaction is guaranteed.

Seen off I-55, at Manchac.

Kay says the railroad bridge is lowered when a train is coming. Milton works for the railroad.

Seen off I-55, at Manchac.

Found on the Internet: There is a place north of New Orleans called Pass Manchac or as the locals call it "Manchac." Pass Manchac is the home of Middendor's - a wonderful seafood restuarant that has been there longer than most people can remember. Pass Manchac is a small waterway that connects Lake Ponchartrain to Lake Maurpaus. On a thin sliver of land is the town of Pass Manchac. Residing on that land is Middendorf's. This is a small, crowded, noisy seafood restaurant that serves great seafood. There are no big signs that say "Authentic Cajun Food" or any such tourist nonsense. This is a real, local restaurant that serves great food. For generations, people from New Orleans (home of a few good seafood restaurants :-) ) have taken the 45-minute drive north to find. People from the north lake region have also frequented this place.

The specialty is fried thin-sliced catfish filets. These are great. So are the shrimp, oyster, crawfish, crabs, and everything else on the menu.

The atmosphere is casual - quit casual. Don't wear a tie or put on airs. Come and enjoy real food served by some real people.

Seen off I-55, at Manchac.

This is where Milton comes on the train. Can you tell that the small print reads, "Barge, Truck, Rail"?

Seen on I-55, near Ponchatoula, I think.

Personal fireworks rank real high with lots of people--I'll bet there's a great selection at this place. And I see they're also a Mardi Gras Party Shop--I love beads! To tell the truth, I adore sparkling, shiny stuff, period.

Seen on I-55.

I couldn't believe how many birds I saw sitting atop what appeared to be an unused billboard. Looking at it just now, I saw even more birds on the second level. And then I noticed how small those full-grown cows look beside the wooden framework. What in the world was advertised here?

Seen on I-55, in Pike County, Mississippi.

Welcome to Mississippi, Birthplace of America's Music. Found on the Internet in the May 13, 2009, Desoto Times Tribune: In recognition of tourism’s $6 billion impact on the Mississippi economy, Gov. Haley Barbour Tuesday unveiled new highway welcome signs that highlight the state’s emerging identity as the “Birthplace of America’s Music.”

“It has been known for many years that Mississippi’s musical heritage makes us the real ‘Birthplace of America’s Music’ – from the blues, to country, to rock ‘n roll, to gospel,” Barbour said. “These new welcome signs and the slogan are really designed to recognize and honor all of the talented men and women whose incredible array of entertainment skills put Mississippi on the world’s music map.”

During a press conference at Jackson-Evers International Airport, Barbour unveiled a replica of the new signs and proclaimed this week as Mississippi Tourism Week, coinciding with National Travel and Tourism Week, the tourism industry's commemorative event that runs through May 17. The governor chose Mississippi’s largest airport for the event because it is one of the state’s preeminent gateways; one of the first new welcome signs was placed on Airport Road.

“I dare say, no state has a greater claim on the slogan ‘Birthplace of America’s Music’ than Mississippi, and no state’s governor could be as proud as I am today with this recognition,” Barbour said.

So far, signs also have been placed at the Mississippi Welcome Center in Vicksburg; on I-55 in DeSoto County; I-20 in Warren, Lauderdale, and Jackson counties; I-10 in Jackson and Hancock counties; Highway 78 and Highway 61 in DeSoto county; the newest will go up on I-55 in Pike County this week.


Come back tomorrow to find out the plans Milton and Kay had for us while we were at their home.

Vacation, Day 2, 10/22/2009, Part 1

If you looked at yesterday's blog, more than likely you guessed where we planned to go this morning, first thing--Cafe Du Monde.


Well, I have to tell you that I never figured out the thermostat in our beautiful room, but we did have the ceiling fan and those fabulous high ceilings, so we all managed to get a good night's rest despite the humidity.

I felt so much better that I decided to get out my little laptop Honk and try to connect to the wireless. Hooray! I checked e-mail, cleaned out the junk, then downloaded the photos I'd taken on 10/21/2009 to the computer. Mama still had some energy although her arms and shoulders were sore from holding onto her walker for that long walk the night before. We three talked about our much shorter walk from the Place D'Armes Hotel on St. Ann to the Cafe Du Monde on Decatur--a mere tenth of a mile. That right there tells you why I picked that hotel. My main goal for our overnight in New Orleans was for Mama to be able to walk to the Cafe Du Monde and get herself some beignets and coffee without feeling like she was being a burden to anyone.


Well, OK, I'll 'fess up--I wanted some beignets, too! My dearly departed husband LeRoy and I used to order the beignet mix and the coffee shipped to us in Kansas City. He'd been to New Orleans with several buddies back in the late '60's or early '70's. He fell hard for those two staples of the Cafe Du Monde. Sometimes on Sundays we'd load up our little LUV truck with our electric skillet, a bottle of Crisco or Wesson oil, his Chemex coffeemaker, some filters, the beignet mix and the coffee in the gold can. We were brunch-on-wheels for our best buds in KC. What good memories I'm having as a result of our being in New Orleans!

Check-out time at the Place D'Armes is 11 a.m., so we had to get a move on once we'd all finished our daily ablutions. As we walked through the courtyard I again marveled at the lush plants. I mean I see plenty of them up here in Portland, but these in New Orleans were so lovely. And the two climates are so different--it makes it all so interesting when you can witness for yourself those difference and then enjoy the similar outcomes.

Another portion of the courtyard


Look at these ferns!


While we walked and talked and watched out for uneven surfaces for each other, I planned to peel off when we came alongside Jackson Square so that I could take a few photos before we made it all the way to Cafe Du Monde.

Here's what I found on the Internet about the building we walked beside on St. Ann.

The Presbytere, taken from St. Ann Street, looking towards the cathedral and the Cabildo which is not visible at all in the photo.

Flanking St. Louis Cathedral on either side are identical Spanish Colonial buildings. On the right (facing from Jackson Square) is the Presbytere, on the left the Cabildo. Both are massive, two-story stuccoed brick structures. The lower stories have wide porticos with semi-circular arches. They were designed by Gilberto Guillemard, a French architect serving in the Spanish military. Rear wings were added in 1840, and the French mansard roof (the third story) was added in 1847. Construction of both buildings, as well as the cathedral itself, was financed by Don Andres Almonester y Roxas.

Andrew Jackson in the center of Jackson Square--it looks like his hat is touching that crane. The building is the Cabildo which also houses part of the Louisiana State Museum.


Construction of the Presbytere began first, in 1791. It was located on the site of the residence of the Capuchin monks, and was to become the Casa Curial (Ecclesiastical House), or Rectory, for St. Louis Cathedral. Construction stopped in 1798 and wasn’t completed until it was taken over by the wardens of St Louis Cathedral in 1813. The building never served its intended purpose – the diocese first rented the building as a courthouse, then finally sold it to the city in 1833. The city continued to use it as a courthouse, until 1911 when it was given to the state for use as a museum in conjunction with the Cabildo. The Presbytere became the natural science museum to complement the Cabildo’s role as a history museum.

Wow! That's some big looking sky! I quickly turned around and walked through the gate, out onto the sidewalk along Decatur where you can always find carriages for hire.


I quickly turned around and walked through the gate, out onto the sidewalk along Decatur where you can always find carriages for hire. I'm guessing here's one on its way back to where it began.


We're close now! I can smell the beignets!


Cafe Du Monde, from their Web site:
History
The Original Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand was established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market. The Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It closes only on Christmas Day and on the day an occasional Hurricane passes too close to New Orleans.

The Original Cafe Du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and half with hot milk. Beignets are square French -style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. In 1988 Iced Coffee was introduced to the cafe. Soft drinks also made their debut that year.

I drank fresh-squeezed orange juice, well after I'd finished my three beignets. I didn't want any clash of tastes going on in my mouth, nope.

Beignets
Beignets were also brought to Louisiana by the Acadians. These were fried fritters, sometimes filled with fruit. Today, the beignet is a square piece of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three.

Before we crossed the street, I turned around and took this shot. I like it because I can almost see women and men from yesteryear, strolling along. Since it was about 9 a.m., not much was happening right then, but I still like the perspective on the photo.


Here's that same carriage, just after it passed us at the intersection. Some day I'll go back to New Orleans and ride in one of these--that's good goal to have. Plus my friend Michelle e-mailed today to tell me about the Carousel Bar and Lounge in the Hotel Monteleone (there's a photo of it in yesterday's post). The bar revolves and overlooks Royal. That's another good goal to have, to don my motion sickness bracelets and have a seat at the bar!


Here we are, pre-beignet-clean. If you've never eanted one of them, you don't know what I'm talking about--sorry. Every time you take a bite, powdered sugar flies. Naturally it lands all over the place. I put the camera away before I took the first bite.




This man entertained everyone, singing and playing his trumpet and testifying for the Lord. I made sure to leave him a tip--he was pretty good.


While Mama finished her last beignet, Kay walked down Decatur, in search of fresh fruit at the market. I walked up onto the levee to take photos.

The Mississippi River curves here. I don't know if you can tell it or not in this quickly snapped shot. Back when my sons were in elementary school we rode a paddle wheeler on the river--it was a memorable but short trip. The calliope was so loud!


That might be the very boat, there with the two black smokestacks and the Natchez on its side. That green roof is on the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, another great place to visit in New Orleans. The gift shop there is where I believe I saw George Clinton shopping the rubber sharks. If it wasn't him, it was his double!


We walked back to the hotel. I got Mama to wait in the lobby and got one of the hotel's nice employees to come get our luggage. Kay came back, disappointed in the fruit selection and ready to hit the road for her home in south Mississippi.


Last, two sort of iconic French Quarter photos.

The wrought iron, the narrow street.


Finally a blue sky to add to the beauty of St. Louis Cathedral.

Vacation, Day 1, 10/21/2009, Part 4

My favorite neon of the night--at the Acme Oyster House--for the team, not the beer. I'm not much of a beer drinker.


Kay, Mama and I thought we'd be walking a little over six blocks from the Place D'Armes Hotel to the Acme Oyster House. We'd made that estimate after looking at a paper place mat sized French Quarter map. What we didn't know was that we'd be covering half a mile--I just got the Google walking directions which actually matched our route. Thank goodness Mama had her walker because when she felt like a rest, she'd whip that little thing around, set the hand brakes and take a seat. Kay and I would stand beside her, looking here, looking there, all three of us talking and watching people. Naturally, I took photos.

We walked up St. Anne to Royal, where we turned left. Naghi's, Jewelry, Judaica and Antiques, is on the corner. Would that the sky had been blue that late afternoon. I really like this view of the wrought iron and the balcony.


We walked by the back of St. Louis Cathedral. From their Web site: The Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis King of France is the oldest Catholic cathedral in continual use in the United States. Be sure to remember this photo when you see another one that I took on our walk back to the hotel.


Right across Royal is the Rodrigue Studio. From its Web site: Featuring the artwork of Cajun artist George Rodrigue, most famous for the "Blue Dog" series of paintings.


Looking along the side of the cathedral, towards the Mississippi River. How would you like to encounter pirates down this alley, by the dark of night? We did, naturally. It's Pirate Alley, y'all! There's a cafe about half way down--that's where we came across folks in pirate garb, talking like pirates, too. They loved Mama!


What in inviting spot, even on a humid evening. Can anyone explain that window at the top of the photo?


This didn't just catch my eye, it grabbed it. For seven and a half years back in the early to mid 1950's, my family moved every three months or less--Daddy's job building water cooling towers for industrial purposes led to that situation. We lived in various trailers, none more than seven feet wide, in 26 states. As a result, maps fascinate me. I asked permission to take this photo.


Here's the sign for the store, Road Trip on Royal.


We saw several of these. I like all the layers of paint.


One of the more well-known eateries we passed on our way to our destination.


Mama's stepping out. Kay's grinning at the metal cutie in the shop doorway.


Makes you wonder who would answer any one of those five buzzers, doesn't it?


Fleur de Paris, custom milliners, on Royal.


I found this online, about French Quarter architecture: Outside doors are tall and surmounted by arched and barred transoms. Above them one should note the narrow second-floor balcony, just two or three feet deep and supported by scrolling brackets of hand-wrought iron from the forge. The cast-iron "gallery" of later vintage is different--wide and supported on columns, all cast from molds in commercial foundries, not from mom-and-pop blacksmith shops. These were frequently added in the 1850s to houses first built with balconies in the 1830s.

So I'm wondering if the one with the posts in this photo is a gallery. It doesn't look wider than two or three feet to me, but it might be.


I'm thinking these two are balconies--they look narrower than the ones in the previous photo, don't they? See the person on the lower one? I doubt I could have ever been comfortable in that position, even in my younger years.


Wait a minute. This might be the one that shows both of them side-by-side, the balcony on the right, the gallery on the left. I can't explain to y'all why I'm so curious about this distinction, I just am.


My smiling Mama in the French Quarter!


Looking back the way we came, down Royal, past a great big tree that stands beside the building that houses the Louisiana State Court of Appeal Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of Louisiana.


Isn't this a beautiful building? It's the New Orleans Police 8th District--seems like I've seen it in TV shows and/or movies.


Mama's resting in front of the police precinct. I wonder what Kay said to make her laugh?


Y'all know I love neon.


Here's the hotel itself--huge, ornate and so white.




We're almost there. Watch out, we're all hungry!


I had my assignment.


More great neon.


Food orders placed, my Acme Sunset arrived at the table--love that plastic cup! Fruity hard liquor is relaxing, ya'll. Honest.


My fried shrimp platter, before I ate it all right up! To tell you the truth, I started eating without giving a thought to taking a photo. Those Ritz Bits and Kraft Caramels were so long gone. Thank goodness it dawned on me to take a photo. Mama got a fried oyster po'boy, Kay got a fried shrimp one. Both cleaned their plates, just like I did--I shared fries with Mama.


Another neat neon sign in the back room of the Acme--we were seated back there which was just fine with us because the air conditioning was holding its own, not like in the front room where the opening door let in warm, humid air every few minutes.


Here's the front room, shot from that door just before I stepped out onto the sidewalk for our walk back.


We made stops by two praline shops, Royal Pralines and New Orleans Praline, to get Mama a sweet tidbit at both stores. She'd said no to the bread pudding at the Acme Oyster House but couldn't turn down the thoughts of sugar and pecans. No photos of that, though.

Saw these looking in store windows on the walk back to the hotel.








Guess where we planned to go the next morning!




Here's the photo that I wanted you to see, in relation to the day time one I put earlier in this post.


Back at the hotel after some fine time together, walking along Royal mostly, enjoying being with each other and with Kay. All of us looked forward to a good night's rest.